Improving Teacher Education: Determining Epistemic Beliefs of the Preservice Teacher

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maeghan N. Hennessey ◽  
Tammy C. Pannells
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Epistemic Beliefs

scholarly journals Framing heuristics in inclusive education: The case of Uganda’s preservice teacher education programme

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Proscovia S. Nantongo
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Primary Teacher ◽  
Primary Teacher Education ◽  
Group Interviews

Background: Recent education-related research has raised concerns about the persistent exclusion of vulnerable learners in Uganda. The Revised Primary Teacher Education Curriculum of 2013 marked an ambitious yet inconclusive attempt to advance the implementation of inclusive education but has encountered deeply entrenched sociocultural exclusionary practices among education experts.Objectives: This study aimed to explicate education practitioners’ interpretations of Uganda’s flagship inclusive education programme in preservice primary teacher education.Method: Drawing on the conceptual vocabulary of frame analysis and the qualitative analysis of individual and group interviews and classroom observations, the interpretations of inclusive education implementation in preservice primary teacher education in Uganda were examined. The participants included policy design experts, curriculum design experts and classroom practitioners.Results: Three main findings emerged. Firstly, interpretations of inclusive education displayed a narrow framing heuristic of inclusive education as a perfunctory, daily practice rather than a pathway for reflective, inclusive pedagogical engagement. Secondly, the heuristic encouraged the treatment of inclusive pedagogy as a ‘label’ under a specific rubric referring to sensory impairments or disabilities – a historical device for sociocultural exclusion. Thirdly, inclusive education was a praxis but was misframed from its original intentions, causing tension and resentment among practitioners. These findings contribute to the debates on the sustainability of inclusive education beyond preservice teacher education.Conclusion: Uganda’s flagship inclusive education programme in preservice primary teacher education was fraught with tensions, ambiguities and an overt, urgent need for change.

scholarly journals Preservice teacher mobile investigation and interpretation of everyday mathematics across settings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah (Remi) Kalir
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Everyday Mathematics ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
K 12

This study reports upon design-based research that enacted mobile mathematics learning for preservice teachers across classroom, community, and online settings. The integration of mobile learning within mathematics teacher education is understudied, and it is necessary to better understand mobile technology affordances when locating disciplinary inquiry across settings. A curriculum module was designed to support preservice teachers’ participation in two mathematics education and mobile learning repertoires: a) mobile investigation of disciplinary concepts situated in community locations and circumstances, and b) mobile interpretation of connections between school and everyday mathematics. This exploratory case study analyzes three module iterations and identifies the qualities of preservice teachers’ cross-setting disciplinary connections. Reported mobile learning outcomes include connections preservice teachers produced among mathematics concepts, mathematical actions, and material objects, and also connections produced between school mathematics and everyday circumstances. Findings indicate preservice teachers established disciplinary connections when participating in commercial and civic activities relevant to their daily lives. Yet other mathematics concepts and practices were either seldom investigated, only vaguely described, or not representative of K-12 students’ interests and cultures. Design recommendations and implications are suggested for subsequent attempts at situating preservice teacher learning outside of the mathematics teacher education classroom and across multiple settings through mobile learning.

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